Historical Figure
Theodosius I
d. 395
Roman emperor prior to the Splitting of Rome into East and West from 379 to 395
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Key Dates
Death
395 January 17, 395 →Biography
Theodosius I, also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene Christianity. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. He ended the Gothic War (376–382), but did so on terms disadvantageous to the empire, with the Goths remaining politically autonomous within Roman territory, albeit as nominal allies.
Timeline
Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I, with co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II, declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to trinitarian Christianity.
February 27 →Roman Emperor Theodosius I concludes a peace treaty with the Goths and settles them in the Balkans in exchange for military service.
October 3 →Battle of the Frigidus: Roman Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the usurper Eugenius and his Frankish magister militum Arbogast.
September 6 →Emperor Theodosius I dies in Milan, the Roman Empire is re-divided into an eastern and a western half. The Eastern Roman Empire is centered in Constantinople under Arcadius, son of Theodosius, and the Western Roman Empire in Mediolanum under Honorius, his brother (aged 10).
January 17 →Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.
July 4 →Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia. The wedding was celebrated at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire).
June 7 →The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
February 27 →Deposed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, is exiled by Roman Emperor Theodosius II to a monastery in Egypt.
August 3 →More from the Late Antiquity
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